Spain

93+ Points! The 2020 Cuvée Las Santas was produced from a number of small plots at higher altitudes and cooler expositions (north), only Garnacha, small plots. It has some Mediterranean, Châteauneuf-like character (cherries in liqueur, Mediterranean herbs) with 14% alcohol, very good acidity and very fine grained tannins. They fermented it with 50% full clusters and matured it in used French oak barrels for nine months. This is the wine they produce in the style they like, a more personal wine from special plots. 1,423 bottles were filled in March 2022.  - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! I love the pale, floral and delicate 2021 Kauten. This wine is the reason they started in the zone of Olite. The wine is elegant and ethereal. They do a soft extraction and only use half of the skins for the fermentation (50% of the clusters were pressed directly and the juice put in the fermentation vessel). They were worried because it's from a 20-year-old vineyard and they didn't want to extract much. They age it in used barrels for five months. The wine has 13.5%, and it's very approachable and expressive, with notes of sous bois, a vibrant palate and great freshness. Amazing wine and superb value. This is expressive, pure, deep and very satisfying. It should also age well. 1,246 bottles were filled in August 2022. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! There is a change in the 2022 La Bruja. It is no longer a village wine from Rozas de Puerto Real. In 2022, it is a regional wine, and in 2023, it also will be a regional wine but from Ávila, from the Cebreros appellation, as they are focusing their work there. It's a juicy and aromatic Garnacha, very much in the Comando G style, with good ripeness, 14% alcohol and more in the style of the 2020. It has a medium-bodied palate and a sapid finish with contained ripeness and fine granite granularity. They macerated less to adapt to the vintage, and it partly fermented with less skins. It's a more approachable La Bruja, expressive, open and more fruit-driven, more in a Morgon style. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92 Points! The 2021 Soplo is from a cooler and rainier year with some complications with rain during the harvest that forced them to select, sort and discard, but the wine has moderate alcohol and good freshness. This has changed, as it's now 80% Garnacha with 20% Monastrell and Forcallà. It matured in a large 17,400-liter oak vat and some 500-liter barrels for 14 months. It has a clean and expressive nose, with a floral profile. It's a fresh Mediterranean blend—the Garnacha in the zone keeps the freshness—and he harvests early. This is an approachable and pleasant red with 13.5% alcohol; it's tasty and easy but with some seriousness and fine tannins. With time in the glass, it develops a very attractive spicy note of black pepper and clove. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! A lovely garnacha with sweet blue fruit, fine spices and some flowers. Taut and juicy with tight but polished tannins. Lots of flavors, but not hefty. On the contrary, this is nimble and elegant. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! There is a new superb pure Giró from old vines, from the upper two terraces of the Abargues property, first produced in the perfect Mediterranean vintage of 2020. The 2020 Fierroca takes the name from two words, "fierro"( which means iron) and "roca" (which means rock"), the components of the soils here. The grapes have less color but lots of grip, and the wine is floral, elegant, terribly balanced, tasty and ripe without excess, with a velvety texture and long, pure fresh and fine flavors. This is amazing! It matured in two 500-liter French oak barrels for 10 months. 1,300 bottles were filled in August 2021. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

91 Points! Aromas of ripe cherries, vanilla, plums, wild strawberries, flowers and white pepper. It’s medium-bodied with generous strawberries and silky tannins. Fruity palate with a slight sweetness that makes it more approachable. Vegan. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! The very young and juicy 2020 Evodia comes from a year with more rain than average and moderately warm temperatures that resulted in an early harvest of a generous crop that delivered wines of lower alcohol (14.5%) and more freshness. It fermented with some 20% full clusters and had a very soft vinification and extraction with no pump-overs. This is always very aromatic (it's what the name means), and in 2020 it's even paler and more ethereal then the 2019 that was already impressive and quite a change from previous vintages and other wines from the cooperative. Only 20% of the volume matured in oak and the wine is not oaky at all and has contained ripeness and very light extraction. This is bright and elegant, fresh and very pleasant to drink. Incredible for the price. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

96-98 Points! The more backward of the 2021s was the 2021 Finca Dofí, which was very primary and smelled almost like the fermentation vessels, and it took time in the glass to open up. The blend is higher in Garnacha and they couldn't use the Picapoll, as it didn't work well that cool year, so it's 90% Garnacha, 9% Cariñena and 1% white grapes. It achieved 14.5% alcohol but kept better freshness than in 2020, a constant in the 2021 wines. Very promising. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

This is old vine Garnacha from vineyards that are all at least 100 years old that are in the Jiloca River valley south of Zaragoza. The “Unexpected” theme is that all the vineyards used for this wine had been abandoned for a long time and had been unexpectedly found only through the surprise of finding such old vineyards in remote places in the Jiloca valley. There are rich dark fruit aromas such as dark cherries, dark plums, blackberries, and boysenberries along with interesting hints of dark chocolate, heirloom roses, and some smoky accents from the schist beneath the vineyards. Flavors include rich dark plums, dark cherries, and boysenberries, along with hints of nectarines. There is a medium to full body, perfect balance and acidity, and a lush full finish.

92 Points! Aromas of red berries, earth and undergrowth. It’s medium-bodied with velvety tannins. Harmonious and supple on the mid-palate with a silky and transparent character towards the crunchy and vibrant finish. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! The 2020 +Altitud is a regional Garnacha from the villages of Navatalgordo, Navalmoral de la Sierra, Navarredondilla, Burgohondo and Villanueva de Ávila. It has 13.62% alcohol and a low pH of 3.32, denoting freshness. It fermented in concrete, oak vat and stainless steel, depending on the paraje, or plot, with around 50% full clusters. Then it matured in concrete and tinaja, except for 20% that aged in used 500-liter French oak barrels, for 14 months. It has a floral and perfumed nose with red berry and herbal aromas, imperceptible oak, a medium-bodied palate and fine-grained tannins with the granularity of the granite. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

93 Points! A rather ethereal garnacha peluda (hairy grenache) with bright, ruby color. Lots of racy strawberries, fresh cranberries and some vivid pomegranate and lovely baking spices. Transparent, medium-bodied palate, but full of flavors, with some ripe raspberries and strawberries to close. Soft, fresh and not demanding. From organically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

92 Points! The 2019 La Pivonera is a Garnacha, locally called Calabrés, from an east-facing vineyard planted in 1920 on sandy granite soils at 800 meters in altitude in the village of San Esteban de la Sierra. It's the one vineyard-designated wine that is quite different, as it's a different grape. It's more floral and perfumed, ripe (it hits 15% alcohol but doesn't feel alcoholic) and quite showy, revealing sweet Garnacha fruit. It's round and has an extroverted personality, open and expressive. It's juicy and lush, a little decadent. It should be interesting to see how this develops in bottle—my guess is that it can be a little à la Rayas... It seemed to develop quite fast in the glass...They produced around 1,000 bottles of this that were filled in May 2021. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

94 Points! There is a new and impressive red 2020 Barrio Pastores, a village wine produced with old Garnacha grafted on Rupestris du Lot roots. It is perfumed and floral with moderate alcohol (13.8%) and with a medium-bodied palate with very fine tannins and a dry, austere finish. It has impressive freshness and a pH of 3.2 with 6.5 grams of acidity. The production tried to replicate the wines from yesteryear, and they achieved a clean, fine, soft, perfumed and happy red through foot-trodden grapes and maturing in large oak vats for 10 months. Superb debut. 2,000 bottles were filled in August 2021. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

91 Points! This year, the 2019 Sologarnacha Amphora Aging was produced with grapes from a vineyard planted in 2017. It's "only" 13.5% alcohol (most of the other wines are much higher in alcohol) and has a perfumed and floral nose, showing some lightness after a short maceration to keep the more ethereal part of the variety. The wine matured in a clay tinaja for five months. Only 295 bottles were filled in July 2020. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

92+ Points! I was quite surprised by the complexity and nuance of the 2020 Matsanko, despite being very young. It fermented with full clusters and semi-carbonic maceration and matured in barrel for five months. It's a blend of old-vine Garnacha (75%), Tempranillo (15%) and Viura (10%). It's elegant, serious and somehow austere, with good ripeness (14.5% alcohol) and concentration, abundant fine-grained tannins and good depth. 1,239 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2021...Aseginolaza & Leunda is one of the new names from Navarra worth following. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com